NOTHING TO FEAR
The Magic of Mixing and Matching
Art and Photography
Art and Photography
By Tamara Moscowitz
UNTITLED (WALKING)
BY EDWARD KEATING
BY EDWARD KEATING
A blank wall can be a terrifying thing to face, especially if your art collection is anything but cohesive. "Fear of thinking imaginatively is nearly a universal sentiment among my clients," said Michelle Workman, a favorite among VandM’s featured interior decorators. "But once they see the possibilities of a mix-and-match approach they can make unusual choices leading to knock-out, one-of-a-kind interiors."
Workman offers several key pointers on how to combine art and photography to get a unique wall display.
"First, I select a unifying theme from one of three elements: color, subject or style. When I walk into an empty space, color is the starting point. From there, other design elements will fall into place. If a room is decorated, adding a wall display should speak to the interior’s particular style as part of an overall scheme. Another consideration is background: on wallpaper, art blends in with the design motif, while on a solid wall it establishes a focal point."
MIX & MATCH
within an overall theme: feminine/color
Surrealist Leonor Fini’s lithograph The Visages (double portrait) takes the center with Bruno Cals’ otherworldly digital C-prints on either side. Colors—blues, tans, beiges and whites—flow, allowing the eye to follow from one work to the next
Leonor Fini’s lithograph The Visages (double portrait)
Bruno Cals’ otherworldly digital C-print
COMBINE
two methods that work together
Building on the machismo of Robert Loughlin’s black-and-white painting on a circular mirror, I found a similar feeling echoed in the digital C-print of a group of workers, Brasilia/Untitled 5. The bold, oblong shape of the mid-century canvas wall introduces another form, and Edward Keating’s ambiguous photo Untitled (Walking) is transitional. Arranging these four pieces into a square offsets each shape for a hard-to-miss combination.
Bruno Cals’ UNTITLED digital C-print
Edward Keating’s
photo Untitled(Walking)
photo Untitled(Walking)
Bruno Cals’ BRASILIA digital C-print
ROBERT LOUGHLIN [1949- ] PAINTING
Michelle Workman’s Basic Tips
Playing with shapes, materials and colors helps you develop a savvy, individual style
of decorating. Here are some suggestions for tapping into your artistic talents:
of decorating. Here are some suggestions for tapping into your artistic talents:
Designate then dramatize an area.
Think in broad terms—big, bold and vibrant. Popular spots: entryways, hallways, stairway or section off a wall area.
Common themes.
Find one idea as the foundation from which all else follows. For example, nature lovers might choose a photograph of trees and a landscape painting of forests.
Communicate an idea.
Start with love.
A wall display speaks volumes of your individuality, lifestyle and passions. It gives a first, sometimes lasting impression to family, friends and guests.
Select one photo, artwork or piece of family memorabilia that evokes an emotional response. Build a group with other favorite pieces, moving away from the strictly traditional to the really modern, creating a visual surprise.
Be inventive.
Size matters.
Find common ground.
Every individual has a concept of how he or she wants live, so dispose of catalogues and explore your inner life. Ask yourself what type of environment suits you: Zen-like, lively and entertaining, work-oriented or all of the above.
Shape and size determine the arrangement of artworks, whether in clusters or vertical or horizontal rows. If you have one large piece, surround it with smaller items.
Beloved pieces such as family vintage black-and-white photographs can be intermixed with parchment maps, but they still need a common link. Use matching frames to make the grouping cohesive.
